Os Alquimistas Estão Chegando
The title of the series, “Os Alquimistas Estão Chegando” (The Alchemists Are Arriving) refers to the classic samba rock song by Jorge Ben Jor. Alchemy is fundamentally ritual transmutation and carnival is a form of social alchemy. Each year, the “carnavalescos”, the artistic directors of carnival, take the base material of Brazilian communities, the samba schools, and transmute them into euphoric expressions of communal soul. Each samba school dances and sings its way through the Sambodromo crucible, propelled by the ferocious rhythm of its "bateria", bedazzled and bedazzling.
In homage I pursue my own alchemical process, attempting to transmute simple base photos into composite images that resonate with the carnival spirit, to capture a spark of that which is as ecstatic and fleeting as an ayahuasca vision.
Read MoreIn homage I pursue my own alchemical process, attempting to transmute simple base photos into composite images that resonate with the carnival spirit, to capture a spark of that which is as ecstatic and fleeting as an ayahuasca vision.
